Singapore Airlines – Why I Choose To Fly SQ

October 26, 2015

My blog is an extension of me. What I like, what I don’t, where I travel, what I eat, where I stay and what I think you should experience. I write about food and travel and within that section I end up reviewing cities, restaurants, activities and even hotels. What I have never done and I feel I should now, is an airline review. Surprisingly I have never written about my flight experience.

Mostly because I’m too tired to bother. At one point I thought it’s all the same in economy or cattle class as I like to call it. However the more I travel and the different airlines and airports I end up at, I soon realise, nothing is the same.

I had a recently trip to Australia and the airline partner for this particular trip was Singapore Airlines. I’ve flown Singapore Airlines on different occasions before but those are just to Singapore. This was the first time I flew via Singapore and had a completely different experience.

The idea of partnering up from the airline’s perspective is that they want to show their customers the many things they offer. What I didn’t realise is that while the flight to Singapore is great, it really is on the connecting flights that you notice the subtle differences and of course get much more time to explore Changi Airport. I never pay attention when I’m travelling to Singapore because when I land I’m too excited to get out into the city and when I’m leaving I’m too depressed to notice anything.

This post is not where I wax lyrical about how awesome the airline is ( it is, I’ve had great flights ) and how big the seats are or anything like that but it is really to highlight what other types of benefits you get when you fly SQ. I hope this helps you plan your travels better

40 dollar voucher – The best, I mean the very best thing I learnt on this particular trip is that the airline has a special 40 Singapore dollar voucher for its transit passengers. What this means is that if you are flying anywhere via Singapore on Singapore airlines, you are entitled to a FREE 40 dollar voucher which not only is valid for almost a year but it lets you purchase from duty free and is super for things like alcohol, perfumes & chocolates which is mostly what people end up buying. So if you’re a family, each person is entitled to their own voucher which is very cool. You just need to go to the information desk and they will tell you where to go and collect your voucher. While I was super excited to get mine, despite a 6 hour layover and some intense shopping, completely forgot to use it ! Oh well, it’s valid till March ’16, hopefully I’ll have another trip to or via Singapore before that

it’s worth mentioning that this offer is ONLY for transit passengers, it’s not valid if you are only flying to Singapore.

Great Connectivity – The airline has great connections to a number of destinations. While my route was to Sydney, I didn’t realize the accessibility and flight options for other places as well. Of course it flies to almost every major international airport in Australia but it makes sense to connect on other flights as well. Turns out it is the most preferred airline to fly to Australia ( asked a bunch of people and surprisingly they all fly only SQ ).

Awesome Food – It is no secret that I love the food in Singapore but I didn’t expect to sample similar bouts of happiness when I ate the food on the flight. They have a lovely international and Indian option on the flight to Singapore and I always opt for the international one. If you are vegetarian or have any dietary restrictions please pre book your meals. It is something I advise everyone for any airline.

While I enjoyed my fish, it is only on the flight from Singapore to Sydney when I opted for the Asian meal instead of the International one that I realized how lovely economy airline food can be. Would you believe I ate pork and noodles with pakchoy for my meal and then a seafood Thai fried rice as a SNACK! A snack ! my god I wish I could have had seconds. Of course I couldn’t help but imagine what the menu for business class or the suites was like. I made the most of these meals and was thrilled to bits. Singapore and the food.. never disappoints.. even so many thousands of miles up in the air.

Chargeable wifi – Nothing excites me more on a flight than wifi in the aircraft. I recently discovered this and went absolutely nuts taking selfies and posting them and spamming all my friends on whatsapp with pictures of the plane and my pretty painted toes Singapore Airlines most definitely has wifi on the plane but alas it is chargeable which means it’s best kept for emergencies than pictures of my toes. Free or not, the point is it is an option you have should you need it. Not every airline has that.

KRIS Flyer tie up with Star Alliance – I am currently reveling in the joy of membership programs. Whether it is hotels or an airline, the race to collect points or miles is exhilarating. I was a KRIS Flyer member but what I didn’t realize ( clearly I’ve been sleeping under a rock or something) is that it is part of Star Alliance which is brilliant because I just need to use my Kris Flyer membership details to avail of my miles when I fly any of the other member airlines. Check it out, the list is long and you will definitely find airlines that you use frequently. Of course if you are a member with another airline loyalty program that is part of Star Alliance, you lucky thing you might just be eligible to use their Business Class Lounge. ( I’ve been and oh dear lord have I had splendid food there ! )

Free wifi at Changi – A lot of airports have free wifi but a lot of times it is difficult to connect ( at least I’ve had plenty of trouble ) without a local sim. Some give you just an hour or a one time free hour etc. I went through the same song and dance of desperately trying to connect to their free wifi till it asked for a local number. I was much later told ( and if I had bothered to check their website I’d know sooner ) that all I need to do is go to the information desk and they would give me a password for any number of devices and I could connect to the internet. For me personally, wifi is more important than anything else for a multitude of reasons so this was a useful lil nugget of information.

Singapore City Tours – Another wonderful plus while travelling via Singapore is that if you have a valid visa they offer special city tours. This is more like a bus tour so you just see the highlights, you don’t really get out but it’s still worth it and beats sitting at the airport for hours.

Discounts at certain stores at Changi – If you get on website there is a list of stores that offer discounts to transit passengers. From clothes, chocolates and a lot more, this is great for people who have time to kill and want to shop. This of course is in addition to that fabulous voucher.

In October, SQ is launching their new Premium Economy Class which as the name suggests is a notch higher than economy. What this includes is priority checking in and baggage, earn more Kris Flyer points, a lavish menu and a lot more. You can read all about it here.

2015 is a very special year. This June the airline celebrates its 50th year and so it’s raining discounts and deals! Take my advice – get onto their website, book your flights and make the most of it !

Disclaimer : This post was made possible thanks to Singapore Airlines & Destination New South Wales. Thoughts and opinions are strictly my own.